


What wouldn't have happened

by Ex-Genesis (orphan_account)



Category: Disney RPF
Genre: Angst, Incest, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-27
Updated: 2010-06-27
Packaged: 2017-11-12 15:49:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/492945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Ex-Genesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick's way too into the game, and Joe starts to feel neglected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What wouldn't have happened

He was shining his bat for God's sakes, and no, that wasn't a euphemism, though Joe sincerely wished it had been. But no, when he walked into their hotel room, Nick was sitting at the edge of his bed with a cloth, rubbing a softball bat up and down. Joe paused at the door, watching Nick for a few moments, asking himself if that was actually what Nick was doing. He wanted to make sure Nick didn't have like - well, he didn't know what. He really would rather it have been almost anything else at that point.  
  
Stepping in front of his younger brother, whose face was set in concentration, who didn't even look up from his task to acknowledge Joe, he puffed out a breath. "Yeah, okay, Nick," Joe said, taking the bat from Nick's hands, leaving Nick reaching up toward the air after it, cloth still in hand, as Joe shook his head, "That's enough. Seriously... this thing is taking over your brain, dude. Not cool." Nick, lips pursed, fitted tight over his teeth, finally looked into Joe's eyes, glaring. Shrugging, Joe put the bat behind his back. "Come on Nick..." he whined slightly, bending his knees in a plea. "You never do anything anymore..."  
  
"I do plenty of 'things'. Now give it back." He rose to his feet, dropping the cloth to the bed. Joe peeked over his shoulder, considering, for a moment, making a grab for that too, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. Nick was really freaking fast. Frankly, he didn't have much faith that the bat would be in his hands much longer as it was.  
  
Turning his focus back on Nick, he gave his brother an innocent, sincere look of - what, concern, maybe mixed with a little bit of jealousy. "Well yeah! Obviously. But it's all softball; it's all sports." Slumping his shoulders, letting his head sink a centimeter and narrowing his eyes even more, Nick gave his, 'Duh. Very observant, Joseph.' look, which went unappreciated. "I know -" Joe began speaking in a tone he, apparently, related to his brother after that. "-It's always been that way, Joe. Where've you been? Har, har, har."  
  
Quirking an eyebrow, Nick actually let a hint of a smile cross his face, because when Nick smiled, it was with his whole face, not just his mouth, before asking pointedly, "'Har, har, har'? When in my  _life_  have I said 'Har, har, har'?" Two seconds before it was too late, he held up his hands, stopping Joe before he could begin. "Just now does  _not_  count."  
  
Looking a little dejected by Nick stealing his thunder, Joe continued to argue. "Nick. Spend time with  _me_ . I'm right here, and a whole lot prettier than a bat." With that, he gave his most charming, bedazzling smile, and Nick would have melted if Joe hadn't brought the bat in front of him while he spoke, always needing to use his hands to feel effective in speech. It was too tempting.  
  
Really, Joe should have known better. He only half-gasped when he felt it ripped out of his hands. "Nick!" The exclamation appeared to be unheard as Nick settled back on the bed, wiggling just slightly to get comfortable again, and began shining once more. "God! You are so - so... Whatever. Fine. You don't want to hang out with me, I'll just go find some girl who appreciates  _me_  for  _me_ ." He smirked at his threat, which he assumed would be pretty convincing, but that went unnoticed too.  
  
Shaking his head, Joe finally gave up, throwing his hands in the air. That was just ridiculous to him. Nick always got jealous when girls were involved. And a softball bat was more important? Whoever had replaced his brother, he wanted them out, out, out. While he didn't actually have heart for it, Joe figured as long as he said it, he might as well do it, so he made his way down to the restaurant located on the first floor in all its shiny, gold-plated goodness. There was a bar there, but it was a family-centric hotel, so there were kids drinks, too.  
  
Why not go down and make a few girls feel special for a while? At least someone would feel good after all of this...  
  
\---  
  
About twenty minutes into a semi-interesting conversation with a blushing girl about one year younger than himself, Joe felt a presence behind him. He didn't have to turn to know it was Nick, so he just kept on talking, making a physical effort not to pay his younger brother any mind. The jerk... But Nick really didn't care, because after a second of glowering, he put a hand on Joe's shoulder firmly. When Joe didn't finish his sentence fast enough, Nick bent his head down beside Joe's and blew in his ear. As expected, Joe swatted him away, but finally held up a finger to his companion, and turned on his bar stool to face Nick, silently asking, 'What?' in a way that also kind of said, 'Fuck off, thanks.'  
  
Neither of them noticed the girl trying to refrain from bouncing in her seat, because, oh my god, there were  **two**  Jonas Brothers in front of her! Nick shrugged off Joe's nasty expression, and asked, no told Joe, "Come pitch to me."  
  
Scoffing, Joe got a laughing expression on his face, but it quickly changed to one of disdain. "Are you serious? After that? He-" Nick somehow had the time to correct him with a look, even if he didn't have time to consider Joe's feelings, so his older brother habitually changed his language as per favor to Nick, "-ck no!" Joe made to turn back around, but Nick grabbed his shoulder again.  
  
"Joe. I need you to come pitch to me." Need. Joe rolled his eyes. Nick sighed as if it took just so much effort before relenting a, "Please?"  
  
"And where do you think we'll be playing at, Nicholas? I'm pretty sure in here is off-limits, and there's a danger of someone drowning if a stray ball hits a swimmer, you know?" It wasn't all that often that Joe toyed with  _real_  sarcasm when it came to Nick, or anyone really, but he was pissed, and upset.  
  
"I looked it up and made a call. There's a gated Park not too far from here. Rob's already in the car," Nick informed Joe smoothly, pointing a thumb behind him. He tugged at Joe's shirt a few times, trying to get him into motion before Joe swatted him away, for real.  
  
"Monica, right?" She nodded her head, smiling sweetly, blushing a little that he remembered her name, said it, even. "My brother needs me. Some important  _ball_  thing," he said, fluctuating his tone to mock, lifting his hands and shaking them like it was a really big deal, except it really wasn't. And yeah, he said inappropriate-sounding things a lot. The trick was, sounding innocent otherwise. No one ever really knew when he did or did not mean for it to sound so... dirty. Her smile faltered, but instantly picked back up as he reached out his hand and shook hers. She giggled as he stood and began walking away with Nick.  
  
"A blond, Joe?" His older brother hadn't been with a blond since the Taylor fiasco. He'd taken to brunettes more recently. One in particular.  
  
Shaking his head a little, almost grimacing, Joe answered shortly, "You're an idiot."  
  
"Thanks, Joe." His voice was sarcastic, but not heavily so, and the inner halves of his eyebrows were the only parts that were pulled downward. Such a fine compliment...  
  
\---  
  
Joe was actually a pretty good pitch when he wanted to be, when he had a goal to focus on, and it was definitely not Nick's bat at the moment - well not the bat Nick wanted it to be. The first time he threw the ball, it was in the general area he wanted it to be, but ended up lamely hitting Nick in the lower stomach, not having put enough power into it. Nick didn't seem phased, and Joe gave him a faux-confident nod, with half smirk before he threw again. That time it was dead-on, but Nick moved his bat in time, and blocked it, sending the ball rolling back to Joe's feet. Nick looked a little suspicious then, but raised his bat into the air once more, readying himself.  
  
"Pitch bet-" he started, but the ball zooming towards him cut Nick's words off, and he distracted himself, allowing the ball passage. As it hit, it felt slow, like it wasn't happened, but as soon as the ball started falling away, hit the ground, Nick felt pain spring up inside of him, part way down both his legs and up through his stomach up to his chest. Dropping his bat, Nick doubled over a little, wincing, and Joe could only place his hands on his hips, satisfied, and chuckled even as Nick finally found himself again and glared, like really, really glared at Joe.  
  
"You did that on purpose," he breathed, kind of gasped out, voice harsh and exasperated. Joe nodded his head, a proud glint in his eye.  
  
"That's for being such a dick." Nick thought about everything. Like, seriously, Joe bet Nick even sometimes thought about rabbits and their nails, and how easy it would be to groom them. Nick just knew things, wondered about things; that was why everyone listened to him. So even about this, about being called a dick and having Joe aim and hit him where it really, truly hurt, he thought, and considered. His facial expressions changed every few seconds.  
  
Finally able to stand straight again, Nick took a few steps closer to Joe. "Listen, I thought you wanted to spend time - just us. Here we are. We've got the field to ourselves. I mean, sure, Rob is in the car, but he isn't here..." Joe sighed, proud everything being erased away. He felt himself become disappointed, a feeling rare when it came to Nick.  
  
"I meant with _out_  the sports, Nick. Didn't you listen?" He didn't mean to sound hurt. If he'd had his way, he would have sounded like stone cold Nick J, but that wasn't how Joe was, so he didn't get to upset with himself when it was actually gentle, and sincere in emotion.  
  
Sighing, Nick finally looked a little guilty, but it wasn't exactly for what Joe had hoped. "I did," he began, and Joe went to cut him off angrily, but Nick pushed on, shutting Joe up immediately, "but I thought we could do both..."  
  
Taking in the tone, and his eyes, Joe decided that Nick had  _meant_  well. "No, Nick," he answered sadly. He knew Nick wanted to protest, but his little brother, kind of his everything, finally started to get it, and waited, listening. "Not all the time. It can't be like that all the freaking time. I need  _you_ . I don't need a ball and a bat. I don't know why you do, but I think I've supported you pretty well, here. Maybe I haven't been the best, haven't been so helpful at winning, but Nick, come on, I've been trying. I would have thought you'd try for me just a little more." Joe breathed in again, looking to the side, a little lost in what he was trying to say, trying to figure out how he wanted to say it.  
  
"Like, when we first got together, you paid attention. You gave a shit, Nick. But now, literally all you do is play. Play music, play ball. Then you're too tired when we get back to the room, and you're so wound up from everything. You don't even let me touch you. I don't even think I've kissed you for like, a week, Nick. A week. Do you know how long that feels?" Nick finally made to move his head, but Joe had a stab of pain run through him, afraid of what Nick's answer would be, so he cut Nick off once again, closing his eyes just a second. "Because you should. You should know. I'm pretty sure you used to love me as much as I love you. I'm pretty sure we agreed this was a forever thing. So you should. You should know. And it should hurt. But you haven't been acting like it, and that kills, Nick. It really fucking kills."  
  
It took a few moments, and Joe watched carefully, so carefully as if everything depended on it, and it sort of did, but finally Nick's eyes turned pained, heart-broken. Joe couldn't hold back the sigh of relief when he saw it so clearly, and he felt like ice was melting away. It really didn't matter that it was so hot outside, because everything in him had been so cold until now. Now, though, he knew it would be all right. Well, most of him knew. A part of him doubted, wondered if the pain was because Nick didn't like hurting people, and he was about to tell Joe that he couldn't care, but Joe let himself be happy, let light come back into his own eyes.  
  
"Joe, I'm -" His throat sounded constricted, and choked. He had to clear his throat four times before he could make any significant sound. Slowly he moved forward, bat dropped carelessly to the dirt. "I'm so sorry... I just thought that - I don't know what I thought. I felt it, Joe, I did. I just thought maybe that was stupid, or just me, maybe if I ignored it, it would go away. You've been really good about everything, never forced anything - next time, force it," he was looking into Joe's eyes the whole time. Joe looked reluctant to agree to the last part. When Nick needed space, he needed space, so Nick pushed for it again. "Please. Please don't - I need you to ignore it when I push you away, Joe. I need you. Just sometimes it feels like I need you too much, and I hate feeling like I'd ever, I don't know, I don't know what I was  _thinking_ , Joe..."  
  
Nick sounded lost, confused, and Joe believed every word he said, everything. Yes, it bothered him that Nick didn't know exactly why he had done what he had, acted distant, even when he didn't want to be, turned all his cares into ball games when it wasn't the music. What mattered, though, was that they had reached a new level in their relationship. Joe hadn't expected it, honestly, but then he realized, maybe you weren't ever supposed to know about them before hand, or they wouldn't be trials. Then they just wouldn't count for anything, or make anyone stronger.  
  
Without having to think too hard and long about anything, Joe grabbed Nick by the arms and pulled him into the tightest hug he could muster, ignoring the heat, and the sweat, just feeling Nick's chest rise and fall with his own. A moment passed, and then Nick lifted his head from Joe's shoulder, looking apologetic, still, but also overwhelmed with love, as he bent his head. For the first time in a week, they kissed, and it felt just like the first time. Everything was gonna be fine. No. Great.


End file.
